Race is on to sign up 'Shropshire’s toughest road running 10K' and get an event T-shirt
Runners are being urged to sign up to 'Shropshire's toughest 10K' road race, which is to return to a town in October.
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Members of Bridgnorth Running Club, which hosts the 6.22 mile race around the town, donned past finishers’ T-shirts to promote this year’s event, which will be held on Sunday October 19 at 11am.
To guarantee receiving the correct-sized T-shirt, runners need to enter by midnight on Thursday, August 14.
Designers are hard at work creating this year’s souvenir jersey, which will stay under wraps until race day.
Last year’s T-shirt was white with red and black trim – Bridgnorth RC colours –with a ‘heartbeat’ line across the front indicating the gradient of the undulating course.
It also had a football-style number 10 on the back to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first race, while the front and rear featured a snazzy grey background image of the Town Hall.
Race director Vicky Morris said: “We believe ours is the best technical finisher’s T-shirt – a lot of thought and debate among the committee goes into it – and it always proves a huge hit with the runners.
“We urge anyone who is considering entering to do so as soon as possible to guarantee their T-shirt size.”
She added that entries are again capped at 500, which was last year’s sold-out number of applicants, and there are hopes that the record 454 finishers from the 2024 race – "known as Shropshire’s toughest road running 10k" – can be topped.
Hundreds of people line the route each year, cheering the runners on, and organisers are hopeful of another big turnout from the community.
“There’s always a real buzz and a positive atmosphere on the day, and with so many people coming provide a boost to local businesses,” added Vicky.
“It would be great to sell out again, and to have even more finishers.”
This year’s race will again be held on the new course, which was introduced in 2024 to avoid Friar’s Field because of the possibility of flooding.
It was also officially recognised as a 10k distance for the first time after being measured by UK Athletics.
Prizes for the ‘Cartway Conqueror’ and ‘Railway Street Rocket’ – the quickest to scale the first and last climbs on the course – will again be featured. Images of these also appear on the T-shirt.
Last year course records went to David Bissuel, who won in a time of 34 minutes, 42 seconds, and Stacey Hawkins, first woman home in 40.19.
But the event is highly inclusive, with finishers last year ranging from 18, to 80-year-old Chris Harrison.
Donations from the event – which is entirely run by club volunteers – go to charity and Bridgnorth 10k partners Severn Hospice is set to benefit from last year’s race, with a presentation due shortly.
To enter the race, visit https://www.stuweb.co.uk/event/4458 Entry, which includes a finisher’s medal, costs £25 for club affiliated runners and £27 for non-affiliated runners. Entries close at 12 noon on Friday October 16.
